Associations Between Extreme Temperatures and Cardiovascular Cause-Specific Mortality: Results From 27 Countries.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Existing studies on the association between temperatures and cardiovascular deaths have been limited in geographic zones and have generally considered associations with total cardiovascular deaths rather than cause-specific cardiovascular deaths. METHODS: We used unified data collection protocols within the Multi-Country Multi-City Collaborative Network to assemble a database of daily counts of specific cardiovascular causes of death from 567 cities in 27 countries across 5 continents in overlapping periods ranging from 1979 to 2019. City-specific daily ambient temperatures were obtained from weather stations and climate reanalysis models. To investigate cardiovascular mortality associations with extreme hot and cold temperatures, we fit case-crossover models in each city and then used a mixed-effects meta-analytic framework to pool individual city estimates. Extreme temperature percentiles were compared with the minimum mortality temperature in each location. Excess deaths were calculated for a range of extreme temperature days. RESULTS: The analyses included deaths from any cardiovascular cause (32 154 935), ischemic heart disease (11 745 880), stroke (9 351 312), heart failure (3 673 723), and arrhythmia (670 859). At extreme temperature percentiles, heat (99th percentile) and cold (1st percentile) were associated with higher risk of dying from any cardiovascular cause, ischemic heart disease, stroke, and heart failure as compared to the minimum mortality temperature, which is the temperature associated with least mortality. Across a range of extreme temperatures, hot days (above 97.5th percentile) and cold days (below 2.5th percentile) accounted for 2.2 (95% empirical CI [eCI], 2.1-2.3) and 9.1 (95% eCI, 8.9-9.2) excess deaths for every 1000 cardiovascular deaths, respectively. Heart failure was associated with the highest excess deaths proportion from extreme hot and cold days with 2.6 (95% eCI, 2.4-2.8) and 12.8 (95% eCI, 12.2-13.1) for every 1000 heart failure deaths, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Across a large, multinational sample, exposure to extreme hot and cold temperatures was associated with a greater risk of mortality from multiple common cardiovascular conditions. The intersections between extreme temperatures and cardiovascular health need to be thoroughly characterized in the present day-and especially under a changing climate.

Extreme Temperatures and Stroke Mortality: Evidence From a Multi-Country Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Extreme temperatures contribute significantly to global mortality. While previous studies on temperature and stroke-specific outcomes presented conflicting results, these studies were predominantly limited to single-city or single-country analyses. Their findings are difficult to synthesize due to variations in methodologies and exposure definitions. METHODS: Within the Multi-Country Multi-City Network, we built a new mortality database for ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Applying a unified analysis protocol, we conducted a multinational case-crossover study on the relationship between extreme temperatures and stroke. In the first stage, we fitted a conditional quasi-Poisson regression for daily mortality counts with distributed lag nonlinear models for temperature exposure separately for each city. In the second stage, the cumulative risk from each city was pooled using mixed-effect meta-analyses, accounting for clustering of cities with similar features. We compared temperature-stroke associations across country-level gross domestic product per capita. We computed excess deaths in each city that are attributable to the 2.5% hottest and coldest of days based on each city's temperature distribution. RESULTS: We collected data for a total of 3 443 969 ischemic strokes and 2 454 267 hemorrhagic stroke deaths from 522 cities in 25 countries. For every 1000 ischemic stroke deaths, we found that extreme cold and hot days contributed 9.1 (95% empirical CI, 8.6-9.4) and 2.2 (95% empirical CI, 1.9-2.4) excess deaths, respectively. For every 1000 hemorrhagic stroke deaths, extreme cold and hot days contributed 11.2 (95% empirical CI, 10.9-11.4) and 0.7 (95% empirical CI, 0.5-0.8) excess deaths, respectively. We found that countries with low gross domestic product per capita were at higher risk of heat-related hemorrhagic stroke mortality than countries with high gross domestic product per capita (P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Both extreme cold and hot temperatures are associated with an increased risk of dying from ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes. As climate change continues to exacerbate these extreme temperatures, interventional strategies are needed to mitigate impacts on stroke mortality, particularly in low-income countries.

Global, regional, and national burden of heatwave-related mortality from 1990 to 2019: A three-stage modelling study.

BACKGROUND: The regional disparity of heatwave-related mortality over a long period has not been sufficiently assessed across the globe, impeding the localisation of adaptation planning and risk management towards climate change. We quantified the global mortality burden associated with heatwaves at a spatial resolution of 0.5°×0.5° and the temporal change from 1990 to 2019. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We collected data on daily deaths and temperature from 750 locations of 43 countries or regions, and 5 meta-predictors in 0.5°×0.5° resolution across the world. Heatwaves were defined as location-specific daily mean temperature ≥95th percentiles of year-round temperature range with duration ≥2 days. We first estimated the location-specific heatwave-mortality association. Secondly, a multivariate meta-regression was fitted between location-specific associations and 5 meta-predictors, which was in the third stage used with grid cell-specific meta-predictors to predict grid cell-specific association. Heatwave-related excess deaths were calculated for each grid and aggregated. During 1990 to 2019, 0.94% (95% CI: 0.68-1.19) of deaths [i.e., 153,078 cases (95% eCI: 109,950-194,227)] per warm season were estimated to be from heatwaves, accounting for 236 (95% eCI: 170-300) deaths per 10 million residents. The ratio between heatwave-related excess deaths and all premature deaths per warm season remained relatively unchanged over the 30 years, while the number of heatwave-related excess deaths per 10 million residents per warm season declined by 7.2% per decade in comparison to the 30-year average. Locations with the highest heatwave-related death ratio and rate were in Southern and Eastern Europe or areas had polar and alpine climates, and/or their residents had high incomes. The temporal change of heatwave-related mortality burden showed geographic disparities, such that locations with tropical climate or low incomes were observed with the greatest decline. The main limitation of this study was the lack of data from certain regions, e.g., Arabian Peninsula and South Asia. CONCLUSIONS: Heatwaves were associated with substantial mortality burden that varied spatiotemporally over the globe in the past 30 years. The findings indicate the potential benefit of governmental actions to enhance health sector adaptation and resilience, accounting for inequalities across communities.

Asthma hospitalisations and heat exposure in England: a case-crossover study during 2002-2019.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported an association between warm temperature and asthma hospitalisation. They have reported different sex-related and age-related vulnerabilities; nevertheless, little is known about how this effect has changed over time and how it varies in space. This study aims to evaluate the association between asthma hospitalisation and warm temperature and investigate vulnerabilities by age, sex, time and space. METHODS: We retrieved individual-level data on summer asthma hospitalisation at high temporal (daily) and spatial (postcodes) resolutions during 2002-2019 in England from the NHS Digital. Daily mean temperature at 1 km×1 km resolution was retrieved from the UK Met Office. We focused on lag 0-3 days. We employed a case-crossover study design and fitted Bayesian hierarchical Poisson models accounting for possible confounders (rainfall, relative humidity, wind speed and national holidays). RESULTS: After accounting for confounding, we found an increase of 1.11% (95% credible interval: 0.88% to 1.34%) in the asthma hospitalisation risk for every 1°C increase in the ambient summer temperature. The effect was highest for males aged 16-64 (2.10%, 1.59% to 2.61%) and during the early years of our analysis. We also found evidence of a decreasing linear trend of the effect over time. Populations in Yorkshire and the Humber and East and West Midlands were the most vulnerable. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence of an association between warm temperature and hospital admission for asthma. The effect has decreased over time with potential explanations including temporal differences in patterns of heat exposure, adaptive mechanisms, asthma management, lifestyle, comorbidities and occupation.

Low ambient temperature and hospitalization for cardiorespiratory diseases in Brazil.

Studies have shown that larger temperature-related health impacts may be associated with cold rather than with hot temperatures. Although it remains unclear the cold-related health burden in warmer regions, in particular at the national level in Brazil. We address this gap by examining the association between low ambient temperature and daily hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in Brazil between 2008 and 2018. We first applied a case time series design in combination with distributed lag non-linear modeling (DLNM) framework to assess the association of low ambient temperature with daily hospital admissions by Brazilian region. Here, we also stratified the analyses by sex, age group (15-45, 46-65, and >65 years), and cause (respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions). In the second stage, we performed a meta-analysis to estimate pooled effects across the Brazilian regions. Our sample included more than 23 million hospitalizations for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases nationwide between 2008 and 2018, of which 53% were admissions for respiratory diseases and 47% for cardiovascular diseases. Our findings suggest that low temperatures are associated with a relative risk of 1.17 (95% CI: 1.07; 1.27) and 1.07 (95% CI: 1.01; 1.14) for cardiovascular and respiratory admissions in Brazil, respectively. The pooled national results indicate robust positive associations for cardiovascular and respiratory hospital admissions in most of the subgroup analyses. In particular, for cardiovascular hospital admissions, men and older adults (>65 years old) were slightly more impacted by cold exposure. For respiratory admissions, the results did not indicate differences among the population groups by sex and age. This study can help decision-makers to create adaptive measures to protect public health from the effects of cold temperature.

The effect modification of extreme temperatures on mental and behavior disorders by environmental factors and individual-level characteristics in Canada.

OBJECTIVE: Ambient extreme temperatures have been associated with mental and behavior disorders (MBDs). However, few studies have assesed whether vulnerability factors such as ambient air pollution, pre-existing mental health conditions and residential environmental factors increase susceptibility. This study aims to evaluate the associations between short-term variations in outdoor ambient extreme temperatures and MBD-related emergency department (ED) visits and how these associations are modified by vulnerability factors. METHODS: We conducted a case-crossover study of 9,958,759 MBD ED visits in Alberta and Ontario, Canada made between March 1st, 2004 and December 31st, 2020. Daily average temperature was assigned to individual cases with ED visits for MBD using gridded data at a 1 km × 1 km spatial resolution. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate associations between extreme temperatures (i.e., risk of ED visit at the 2.5th percentile temperature for cold and 97.5th percentile temperature for heat for each health region compared to the minimal temperature risk) and MBD ED visits. Age, sex, pre-existing mental health conditions, ambient air pollution (i.e. PM2.5, NO2 and O3) and residential environmental factors (neighborhood deprivation, residential green space exposure and urbanization) were evaluated as potential effect modifiers. RESULTS: Cumulative exposure to extreme heat over 0-5 days (odds ratio [OR] = 1.145; 95% CI: 1.121-1.171) was associated with ED visits for any MBD. However, cumulative exposure to extreme cold was associated with lower risk of ED visits for any MBD (OR = 0.981; 95% CI: 0.976-0.987). We also found heat to be associated with ED visits for specific MBDs such as substance use disorders, dementia, neurotic disorders, schizophrenia and personality behavior disorder. Individuals with pre-existing mental health conditions, those exposed to higher daily concentrations of NO2 and O3 and those residing in neighborhoods with greater material and social deprivation were at higher risk of heat-related MBD ED visits. Increasing tree canopy coverage appeared to mitigate risks of the effect of heat on MBD ED visits. CONCLUSIONS: Findings provide evidence that the impacts of heat on MBD ED visits may vary across different vulnerability factors.

Short-term air pollution exposure and hospital admissions for cardiorespiratory diseases in Brazil: A nationwide time-series study between 2008 and 2018.

The established evidence associating air pollution with health is limited to populations from specific regions. Further large-scale studies in several regions worldwide are needed to support the literature to date and encourage national governments to act. Brazil is an example of these regions where little research has been performed on a large scale. To address this gap, we conducted a study looking at the relationship between daily PM2.5, NO2, and O3, and hospital admissions for circulatory and respiratory diseases across Brazil between 2008 and 2018. A time-series analytic approach was applied with a distributed lag modeling framework. We used a generalized conditional quasi-Poisson regression model to estimate relative risks (RRs) of the association of each air pollutant with the hospitalization for circulatory and respiratory diseases by sex, age group, and Brazilian regions. Our study population includes 23, 791, 093 hospital admissions for cardiorespiratory diseases in Brazil between 2008 and 2018. Among those, 53.1% are respiratory diseases, and 46.9% are circulatory diseases. Our findings suggest significant associations of ambient air pollution (PM2.5, NO2, and O3) with respiratory and circulatory hospital admissions in Brazil. The national meta-analysis for the whole population showed that for every increase of PM2.5 by 10 µg/m3, there is a 3.28% (95%CI: 2.61; 3.94) increase in the risk of hospital admission for respiratory diseases. For O3, we found positive associations only for some sub-group analyses by age and sex. For NO2, our findings suggest that a 10 ppb increase in this pollutant, there was a 35.26% (95%CI: 24.07; 46.44) increase in the risk of hospital admission for respiratory diseases. This study may better support policymakers to improve the air quality and public health in Brazil.

How ambient temperature affects mood: an ecological momentary assessment study in Switzerland.

BACKGROUND: Recent research has suggested that an increase in temperature can negatively affect mental health and increase hospitalization for mental illness. It is not clear, however, what factors or mechanisms mediate this association. We aimed to (1) investigate the associations between ambient temperatures and bad daily mood, and (2) identify variables affecting the strength of these associations (modifiers) including the time, the day of the week and the year of the mood rating, socio-demographic characteristics, sleep quality, psychiatric disorders and the personality trait neuroticism in the community. METHODS: Data stemmed from the second follow-up evaluation of CoLaus|PsyCoLaus, a prospective cohort study conducted in the general population of Lausanne (Switzerland). The 906 participants rated their mood level four times a day during seven days using a cell phone app. Mixed-effects logistic regression was used to determine the association between daily maximum temperature and mood level. Participant ID was inserted as a random effect in the model, whereas the time of the day, the day of the week and the year were inserted as fixed effects. Models were controlled for several confounders (socio-demographic characteristics, sleep quality, weather parameters and air pollutants). Stratified analyses were conducted based on socio-demographic characteristics, sleep quality, presence of psychiatric disorders or a high neuroticism. RESULTS: Overall, the probability of having a bad mood for the entire day decreased by 7.0% (OR: 0.93: 95% CI 0.88, 0.99) for each 5 °C increase in maximum temperature. A smaller and less precise effect (-3%; OR: 0.97: 95% CI 0.91, 1.03) was found when controlling for sunshine duration. A higher association was found in participants with bipolar disorder (-23%; OR: 0.77: 95% CI 0.51, 1.17) and in participants with a high neuroticism (-13%; OR: 0.87 95% CI 0.80, 0.95), whereas the association was reversed for participants with anxiety (20%; OR: 1.20: 95% CI 0.90, 1.59), depression (18%; OR: 1.18 95% CI 0.94, 1.48) and schizophrenia (193%; OR: 2.93 95% CI 1.17, 7.73). CONCLUSIONS: According to our findings, rising temperatures may positively affect mood in the general population. However, individuals with certain psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia, may exhibit altered responses to heat, which may explain their increased morbidity when exposed to high temperatures. This suggests that tailored public health policies are required to protect this vulnerable population.

Coarse Particulate Air Pollution and Daily Mortality: A Global Study in 205 Cities.

Rationale: The associations between ambient coarse particulate matter (PM2.5-10) and daily mortality are not fully understood on a global scale. Objectives: To evaluate the short-term associations between PM2.5-10 and total, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality across multiple countries/regions worldwide. Methods: We collected daily mortality (total, cardiovascular, and respiratory) and air pollution data from 205 cities in 20 countries/regions. Concentrations of PM2.5-10 were computed as the difference between inhalable and fine PM. A two-stage time-series analytic approach was applied, with overdispersed generalized linear models and multilevel meta-analysis. We fitted two-pollutant models to test the independent effect of PM2.5-10 from copollutants (fine PM, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, and carbon monoxide). Exposure-response relationship curves were pooled, and regional analyses were conducted. Measurements and Main Results: A 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5-10 concentration on lag 0-1 day was associated with increments of 0.51% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.18%-0.84%), 0.43% (95% CI, 0.15%-0.71%), and 0.41% (95% CI, 0.06%-0.77%) in total, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality, respectively. The associations varied by country and region. These associations were robust to adjustment by all copollutants in two-pollutant models, especially for PM2.5. The exposure-response curves for total, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality were positive, with steeper slopes at lower exposure ranges and without discernible thresholds. Conclusions: This study provides novel global evidence on the robust and independent associations between short-term exposure to ambient PM2.5-10 and total, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality, suggesting the need to establish a unique guideline or regulatory limit for daily concentrations of PM2.5-10.

Ambient heat exposure and COPD hospitalisations in England: a nationwide case-crossover study during 2007-2018.

BACKGROUND: There is emerging evidence suggesting a link between ambient heat exposure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) hospitalisations. Individual and contextual characteristics can affect population vulnerabilities to COPD hospitalisation due to heat exposure. This study quantifies the effect of ambient heat on COPD hospitalisations and examines population vulnerabilities by age, sex and contextual characteristics. METHODS: Individual data on COPD hospitalisation at high geographical resolution (postcodes) during 2007-2018 in England was retrieved from the small area health statistics unit. Maximum temperature at 1 km ×1 km resolution was available from the UK Met Office. We employed a case-crossover study design and fitted Bayesian conditional Poisson regression models. We adjusted for relative humidity and national holidays, and examined effect modification by age, sex, green space, average temperature, deprivation and urbanicity. RESULTS: After accounting for confounding, we found 1.47% (95% Credible Interval (CrI) 1.19% to 1.73%) increase in the hospitalisation risk for every 1°C increase in temperatures above 23.2°C (lags 0-2 days). We reported weak evidence of an effect modification by sex and age. We found a strong spatial determinant of the COPD hospitalisation risk due to heat exposure, which was alleviated when we accounted for contextual characteristics. 1851 (95% CrI 1 576 to 2 079) COPD hospitalisations were associated with temperatures above 23.2°C annually. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that resources should be allocated to support the public health systems, for instance, through developing or expanding heat-health alerts, to challenge the increasing future heat-related COPD hospitalisation burden.

Differential Mortality Risks Associated With PM2.5 Components: A Multi-Country, Multi-City Study.

BACKGROUND: The association between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and mortality widely differs between as well as within countries. Differences in PM2.5 composition can play a role in modifying the effect estimates, but there is little evidence about which components have higher impacts on mortality. METHODS: We applied a 2-stage analysis on data collected from 210 locations in 16 countries. In the first stage, we estimated location-specific relative risks (RR) for mortality associated with daily total PM2.5 through time series regression analysis. We then pooled these estimates in a meta-regression model that included city-specific logratio-transformed proportions of seven PM2.5 components as well as meta-predictors derived from city-specific socio-economic and environmental indicators. RESULTS: We found associations between RR and several PM2.5 components. Increasing the ammonium (NH4+) proportion from 1% to 22%, while keeping a relative average proportion of other components, increased the RR from 1.0063 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.0030, 1.0097) to 1.0102 (95% CI = 1.0070, 1.0135). Conversely, an increase in nitrate (NO3-) from 1% to 71% resulted in a reduced RR, from 1.0100 (95% CI = 1.0067, 1.0133) to 1.0037 (95% CI = 0.9998, 1.0077). Differences in composition explained a substantial part of the heterogeneity in PM2.5 risk. CONCLUSIONS: These findings contribute to the identification of more hazardous emission sources. Further work is needed to understand the health impacts of PM2.5 components and sources given the overlapping sources and correlations among many components.

Extreme heat and paediatric emergency department visits in Southwestern Ontario.

OBJECTIVE: The risk of adverse health events is expected to increase with hotter temperatures, particularly among the most vulnerable groups such as elderly persons and children. The objective of this study was to assess the association between extreme heat and daily emergency department visits among children (0 to 17 years) in Southwestern Ontario. METHODS: We examined the average maximum temperature, relative humidity, and daily paediatric emergency department visits in June through August of 2002 to 2019. We reviewed emergency department visits from two academic hospitals. Daily meteorological data from the local weather station were obtained from Environment and Climate Change Canada. RESULTS: Extreme heat, defined as the 99th percentile of the maximum temperature distribution, occurred at 33.1°C and was associated with an overall 22% increase in emergency department visits, compared to the reference temperature of 21°C. This association was mostly found between the second and fifth day after the exposure, suggesting a slightly delayed effect. The results of the sub-group analysis indicate that the risk of an emergency department visit due to infectious disease increases by 35% and the most pronounced association was noted in children aged 1 to 12 years. CONCLUSIONS: Extreme heat is associated with an increased incidence of emergency department visits in children. As temperatures continue to increase, strategies to mitigate heat-related health risks among children should be developed.

Quantifying excess deaths related to heatwaves under climate change scenarios: A multicountry time series modelling study.

BACKGROUND: Heatwaves are a critical public health problem. There will be an increase in the frequency and severity of heatwaves under changing climate. However, evidence about the impacts of climate change on heatwave-related mortality at a global scale is limited. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We collected historical daily time series of mean temperature and mortality for all causes or nonexternal causes, in periods ranging from January 1, 1984, to December 31, 2015, in 412 communities within 20 countries/regions. We estimated heatwave-mortality associations through a two-stage time series design. Current and future daily mean temperature series were projected under four scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions from 1971-2099, with five general circulation models. We projected excess mortality in relation to heatwaves in the future under each scenario of greenhouse gas emissions, with two assumptions for adaptation (no adaptation and hypothetical adaptation) and three scenarios of population change (high variant, median variant, and low variant). Results show that, if there is no adaptation, heatwave-related excess mortality is expected to increase the most in tropical and subtropical countries/regions (close to the equator), while European countries and the United States will have smaller percent increases in heatwave-related excess mortality. The higher the population variant and the greenhouse gas emissions, the higher the increase of heatwave-related excess mortality in the future. The changes in 2031-2080 compared with 1971-2020 range from approximately 2,000% in Colombia to 150% in Moldova under the highest emission scenario and high-variant population scenario, without any adaptation. If we considered hypothetical adaptation to future climate, under high-variant population scenario and all scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions, the heatwave-related excess mortality is expected to still increase across all the countries/regions except Moldova and Japan. However, the increase would be much smaller than the no adaptation scenario. The simple assumptions with respect to adaptation as follows: no adaptation and hypothetical adaptation results in some uncertainties of projections. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a comprehensive characterisation of future heatwave-related excess mortality across various regions and under alternative scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions, different assumptions of adaptation, and different scenarios of population change. The projections can help decision makers in planning adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate change.

Investigating changes in mortality attributable to heat and cold in Stockholm, Sweden.

Projections of temperature-related mortality rely upon exposure-response relationships using recent data. Analyzing long historical data and trends may extend knowledge of past and present impacts that may provide additional insight and improve future scenarios. We collected daily mean temperatures and daily all-cause mortality for the period 1901-2013 for Stockholm County, Sweden, and calculated the total attributable fraction of mortality due to non-optimal temperatures and quantified the contribution of cold and heat. Total mortality attributable to non-optimal temperatures varied between periods and cold consistently had a larger impact on mortality than heat. Cold-related attributable fraction (AF) remained stable over time whereas heat-related AF decreased. AF on cold days remained stable over time, which may indicate that mortality during colder months may not decline as temperatures increase in the future. More research is needed to enhance estimates of burdens related to cold and heat in the future.

The Multi-Country Multi-City Collaborative Research Network: An international research consortium investigating environment, climate, and health.

Research on the health risks of environmental factors and climate change requires epidemiological evidence on associated health risks at a global scale. Multi-center studies offer an excellent framework for this purpose, but they present various methodological and logistical problems. This contribution illustrates the experience of the Multi-Country Multi-City Collaborative Research Network, an international collaboration working on a global research program on the associations between environmental stressors, climate, and health in a multi-center setting. The article illustrates the collaborative scheme based on mutual contribution and data and method sharing, describes the collection of a huge multi-location database, summarizes published research findings and future plans, and discusses advantages and limitations. The Multi-Country Multi-City represents an example of a collaborative research framework that has greatly contributed to advance knowledge on the health impacts of climate change and other environmental factors and can be replicated to address other research questions across various research fields.

Short-term air pollution exposure and mortality in Brazil: Investigating the susceptible population groups.

This is the first study to examine the association between ambient air pollution (PM2.5, O3, and NO2) and mortality (in different population groups by sex and age) based on a nationwide death record across Brazil over a 15-year period (2003-2017). We used a time-series analytic approach with a distributed lag model. Our study population includes 2,872,084 records of deaths in Brazil between 2003 and 2017. Men accounted for a higher proportion of deaths, with 58% for all-cause mortality, 54% for respiratory mortality, and 52% for circulatory mortality. Most individuals were over 65 years of age. Our results suggest an association between air pollution and mortality in Brazil. The direction, statistical significance, and effect size of these associations varied considerably by type of air pollutant, region, and population group (sex and age group). In particular, the older population group (>65 years) was most affected. The national meta-analysis for the entire data set (without stratification by sex and age) showed that for every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 concentration, the risk of death from respiratory diseases increased by 2.93% (95%CI: 1.42; 4.43). For every 10 ppb increase in O3, there is a 2.21% (95%CI: 0.59; 3.83) increase in the risk of all-cause mortality for the group of all people between 46 and 65 years old, and a 3.53% (95%CI: 0.34; 6.72) increase in the risk of circulatory mortality for the group of women, all ages. For every 10 ppb increase in NO2, the risk of respiratory mortality increases by 17.56% (95%CI: 4.44; 30.64) and the risk of all-cause mortality by 5.63% (95%CI: 1.83; 9.44). The results of our study provide epidemiological evidence that air pollution is associated with a higher risk of cardiorespiratory mortality in Brazil. Given the lack of nationwide studies on air pollution in Brazil, our research is an important contribution to the local and international literature that can provide better support to policymakers to improve air quality and public health.

Global and Regional Cardiovascular Mortality Attributable to Nonoptimal Temperatures Over Time.

BACKGROUND: The association between nonoptimal temperatures and cardiovascular mortality risk is recognized. However, a comprehensive global assessment of this burden is lacking. OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to assess global cardiovascular mortality burden attributable to nonoptimal temperatures and investigate spatiotemporal trends. METHODS: Using daily cardiovascular deaths and temperature data from 32 countries, a 3-stage analytical approach was applied. First, location-specific temperature-mortality associations were estimated, considering nonlinearity and delayed effects. Second, a multivariate meta-regression model was developed between location-specific effect estimates and 5 meta-predictors. Third, cardiovascular deaths associated with nonoptimal, cold, and hot temperatures for each global grid (55 km × 55 km resolution) were estimated, and temporal trends from 2000 to 2019 were explored. RESULTS: Globally, 1,801,513 (95% empirical CI: 1,526,632-2,202,831) annual cardiovascular deaths were associated with nonoptimal temperatures, constituting 8.86% (95% empirical CI: 7.51%-12.32%) of total cardiovascular mortality corresponding to 26 deaths per 100,000 population. Cold-related deaths accounted for 8.20% (95% empirical CI: 6.74%-11.57%), whereas heat-related deaths accounted for 0.66% (95% empirical CI: 0.49%-0.98%). The mortality burden varied significantly across regions, with the highest excess mortality rates observed in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. From 2000 to 2019, cold-related excess death ratios decreased, while heat-related ratios increased, resulting in an overall decline in temperature-related deaths. Southeastern Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Oceania observed the greatest reduction, while Southern Asia experienced an increase. The Americas and several regions in Asia and Europe displayed fluctuating temporal patterns. CONCLUSIONS: Nonoptimal temperatures substantially contribute to cardiovascular mortality, with heterogeneous spatiotemporal patterns. Effective mitigation and adaptation strategies are crucial, especially given the increasing heat-related cardiovascular deaths amid climate change.

Seasonality of mortality under climate change: a multicountry projection study.

BACKGROUND: Climate change can directly impact temperature-related excess deaths and might subsequently change the seasonal variation in mortality. In this study, we aimed to provide a systematic and comprehensive assessment of potential future changes in the seasonal variation, or seasonality, of mortality across different climate zones. METHODS: In this modelling study, we collected daily time series of mean temperature and mortality (all causes or non-external causes only) via the Multi-Country Multi-City Collaborative (MCC) Research Network. These data were collected during overlapping periods, spanning from Jan 1, 1969 to Dec 31, 2020. We projected daily mortality from Jan 1, 2000 to Dec 31, 2099, under four climate change scenarios corresponding to increasing emissions (Shared Socioeconomic Pathways [SSP] scenarios SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5). We compared the seasonality in projected mortality between decades by its shape, timings (the day-of-year) of minimum (trough) and maximum (peak) mortality, and sizes (peak-to-trough ratio and attributable fraction). Attributable fraction was used to measure the burden of seasonality of mortality. The results were summarised by climate zones. FINDINGS: The MCC dataset included 126 809 537 deaths from 707 locations within 43 countries or areas. After excluding the only two polar locations (both high-altitude locations in Peru) from climatic zone assessments, we analysed 126 766 164 deaths in 705 locations aggregated in four climate zones (tropical, arid, temperate, and continental). From the 2000s to the 2090s, our projections showed an increase in mortality during the warm seasons and a decrease in mortality during the cold seasons, albeit with mortality remaining high during the cold seasons, under all four SSP scenarios in the arid, temperate, and continental zones. The magnitude of this changing pattern was more pronounced under the high-emission scenarios (SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5), substantially altering the shape of seasonality of mortality and, under the highest emission scenario (SSP5-8.5), shifting the mortality peak from cold seasons to warm seasons in arid, temperate, and continental zones, and increasing the size of seasonality in all zones except the arid zone by the end of the century. In the 2090s compared with the 2000s, the change in peak-to-trough ratio (relative scale) ranged from 0·96 to 1·11, and the change in attributable fraction ranged from 0·002% to 0·06% under the SSP5-8.5 (highest emission) scenario. INTERPRETATION: A warming climate can substantially change the seasonality of mortality in the future. Our projections suggest that health-care systems should consider preparing for a potentially increased demand during warm seasons and sustained high demand during cold seasons, particularly in regions characterised by arid, temperate, and continental climates. FUNDING: The Environment Research and Technology Development Fund of the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency, provided by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan.